Introduction

www.mooseyscountrygarden.com

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

Wing tips brush the stream

As changing self changes others,
Ripples in a pool
(Poem by Angie Titchen expression of an insight
emerging through action learning within a practice
development project.)

Welcome to Opening doors on creativity: resources to

awaken creative working. We are very pleased to
offer this resource for practitioners in nursing, and
other healthcare practitioners, who have a
responsibility for, or an interest in, systematic
practice development and its associated areas, such
as evidence-based practice, clinical leadership or
clinical governance. We hope it will provide a spark
to ignite your enthusiasm for using more creative
ways of thinking about practice development, develop
your practical skills and confidence with creativity,
and enable you to facilitate learning activities for
others using new skills and creative facilitation.
Opening doors combines creative activities, imagery,
practical ideas and mini case examples. It seeks to
extend further the ability of practitioners to liberate
their own feelings and thinking and use innovative
strategies with others, for the purposes of practice
transformation within person-centred, evidencebased care.
This resource has been prepared within a creative
and reflective mode of learning that we refer to as
active learning. So there are lots of activities for you
to do so you can make your own self discoveries
about creativity. There are also reading suggestions,
2006 RCNI

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

learning points and practical examples of creative

strategies to deepen your knowledge and for you to
use or adapt to support practice transformation.
The term practice refers here to any kind of practice
in health, e.g., clinical practice, practice
development, education and research, leadership and
management development, for the purposes of
improving patient care.
Exploring our own creativity can enable greater
emotional intelligence and provide the opportunity to
learn more about ourselves and the ways in which we
relate to patients and colleagues in the workplace
(Freshwater, 2004). From this exploration, we can
enhance our own professional effectiveness in patient
care and how we nurture creative workplace
cultures.
Recent developments in reflective practice, more
active methods of learning (such as clinical
supervision and action learning) and systematic
practice development seek to emphasise the
importance and significance of the whole person
(practitioner and patient) and attempt to challenge
habitual ways of thinking and acting.
This resource grew from the work undertaken by the
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Practice
Development Team over the last decade with
colleagues in the RCN-funded Seizing the fire
collaborative inquiry (Arts Council England, 2005),
and more recently from the report Creative arts and
humanities in healthcare: swallows to other
continents (Coats et al., 2004), which looks at the
needs of patients, staff and healthcare organisations
in relation to the arts. The report identifies the need
for healthcare practitioners:
to be encouraged and facilitated to use their
creative imagination in finding ways of
developing and sustaining humanistic caring
practices and to develop expertise through
gaining knowledge and experience in working
with the arts in healthcare
(Coats et al., 2004: 9)
The report called for greater investment in
developing arts-based strategies in healthcare,
including distance learning, for the benefit of patients
and staff.

2006 RCNI

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

This resource contributes to that identified need. In

addition, the resource complements the work of the
International Practice Development Collaborative in
its use of creative arts in practice development
schools (see the RCN Practice Development news
and events webpage:
http://www.rcn.org.uk/practicedevelopment/news),
and the co-operative inquiry into practice
development theory undertaken by the International
Practice Development Colloquium (see, for example,
McCormack and Titchen, 2006). (The International
Practice Development Collaborative is a body of
organisations that designs, runs and evaluates
international practice development schools. The
International Practice Development Colloquium is a
group of practice developers who are generating an
international practice development theory. In mid2006, the International Practice Development
Colloquium was taken under the umbrella of the
International Practice Development Collaborative.)

Who is this resource for?

This resource has been developed for people who
have a responsibility for development, change or
facilitation, whatever their role or profession. We
start from the basis that you are curious about your
own and others creativity, that you may have some
creative experience, and would like to bring creative
methods into your work.
Our intention is to enable you to develop or deepen
your connection with your own creativity so that you
develop confidence in the experience of being
creative, and also learn from and adapt what others
have done. Opportunities for creative practice are
only limited by what is appropriate and achievable in
particular contexts.
The examples provided here are models for you to
use but should not be studied as definitive! Your
knowledge of your own workplace needs will lead you
into generating your own creative solutions as your
confidence and skill grow.
We very much hope you enjoy this resource and that
it inspires you to find ways to enable your own and
others creativity to grow within your practice
settings.

2006 RCNI

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

Aims of the resource

The aims of this resource are to:

provide creative activities to develop confidence in

your own creativity

provide inspiration and guidance for the creative

facilitation of others by providing facilitation
examples for the purposes of:
releasing others creative imagination for
effective problem-solving and collaborative
working
generating energy and commitment in novel
ways
working with groups or teams to develop a
shared vision
exploring effective culture transitions with
groups
evaluating projects or programmes using
creative methods

act as a signpost/resource for your creative

development.

Intended learning outcomes

In working with this resource, you are provided with
the opportunity to:

build your own confidence and develop your

creativity by practising different creative activities
using a range of creative materials

make a creative statement and action plan to

clarify your ideas for introducing creative methods
in your own workplace/organisational settings

develop understanding and insight into how to

design and facilitate creative processes with
others, and manage the challenges involved.

Resource structure
This resource has two main sections:

2006 RCNI

Section A: Developing your creativity (p.10)

contains activities for developing your own
creativity and clarifying your creative aspirations
for your work, to enable you to build confidence

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

and think through how you want to apply creativity

in your workplace contexts.

Section B: Facilitating others (p.34) contains

practical examples for creative facilitation of
individuals, groups or teams. You may be
interested in adapting the practical examples for
your own use, or taking bits and pieces from
different examples and creating a new hybrid that
suits your situation. In doing this, however, please
respect RCN copyright as indicated at the
beginning of this resource.

We suggest that, because of the way the resource is

designed, you will find it helpful to print out each
section as you start to work through it and undertake
the learning activities described.
This resource has been created in colour, which we
hope will make looking at the electronic file or colour
printout more enjoyable, and make its component
parts more distinguishable from each other. However,
it has also been designed on the understanding that
many people will print it out in black and white.
At the end of the resource you will find a Palette of
resources (p.62), which includes:

further reading

details of useful websites

information on courses in creativity

examples of the use of creative arts in a variety of

settings and contexts

theories about the creative process

examples of warm-up and relaxation activities

details of the use of guided visualisation

a list of the references used in this resource

a feedback sheet for comments on this resource.

There are many photos of nature in this resource.

These have been chosen to show how our creativity is
often awakened when we are working in nature
including, for example, working in your own garden
(see the photo on p.93!).

Key to symbols
You will see this butterfly symbol throughout the
resource. It appears where we recommend that you
make notes to support your learning.
2006 RCNI

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

You will see this sun symbol in Section B to alert you

to think about a specific point in the resource, as this
may assist your continued learning.

How to use this resource

We recommend you print out this information or
make notes from it as guidance.

Preparation
Preparing to facilitate, using creative methods, needs
to begin with your own experience of working
creatively. Before facilitating others, it is essential to
have gained an embodied understanding. This means
first participating in creative activities yourself, so
that you appreciate what working creatively feels
like, looks like, and sounds like, learn how you and
others are affected and what the needs and
challenges are. Starting with yourself enables you to
become attuned to the potential of this way of
working and your feelings and needs. In turn, this
will help to sensitise you to the kinds of needs others
are likely to have when you bring creative processes
into your work. Lets look in more depth at the two
main sections in this resource.

Section A: Developing your creativity

This resource is organised so that you can first
explore and work through a series of creative
activities. The activities will support you to develop
your own creative abilities, and deepen your personal
understanding of being creative and the kinds of
outcomes you can achieve. Learning from your own
experience in this way will also help you discover
what you feel is important to attend to when
facilitating others to engage with creative processes.
You will need to have a room where you can be quiet
and uninterrupted, and do the activities in your own
time.
We recommend that you organise your learning by
keeping reflective and evaluative notes about each
activity in Section A, for example:

2006 RCNI

what you found easy and what you found difficult

what you discovered or found surprising

7

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

2006 RCNI

how you managed any difficulties

any changes you would make to the activity for

your own or others needs

any ideas sparked by the activity that you would

like to apply in your working context, and issues to
be managed to achieve this.

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

Section B: Facilitating others

We recommend that you then study this section,
which has a series of facilitation examples with key
points about issues to attend to. You may choose to
use these examples as they are set out in this
resource, or adapt them in ways that suit your
context. Keep reflective notes about Section B by
thinking about:

what you found useful in each example

specific situations you would consider it for

any changes you would make if you decide to use

the example

what you would pay attention to and need to

manage if you use or adapt the example.

Materials required
The basic materials you will need as you work
through this resource are:

a notebook and pen

some paper (white A4 or coloured card, or

flipchart paper)

a pack of crayons, pastels or felt-tip pens

some old newspapers, magazines or postcards

scissors

sticky tape

glue sticks.

Do add anything else you are drawn to, e.g.:

paints plastic bottles of ready-mix paint in

colours you like, brushes (they dont have to be
expensive), some paper plates to pour paint on,
and jars or plastic cups to hold water

modelling clay or childrens clay

glitter, etc.

Browse in childrens shops or local stationery shops

or other shops which are good value for these
materials. A budget of 10 should be ample to start
you off.
You might also like to have candles, any music that
inspires you, a camera (not essential), and some of
the activities will invite you to use small objects from
2006 RCNI

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

your home or working environment and bits from

nature (leaves, etc). If you dont want to use them
that is fine, as there are choices for materials in each
activity.

2006 RCNI

10

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

Working on your own and finding a creative

companion
Opening up to your creativity, and facilitating others
using creative methods, is a journey of progression.
The journey usually begins with feelings of
awkwardness and uncertainty and evolves into
excitement, confidence and clarity. Creative learning
invites a balance of, and trust in, your imagination,
intuition and judgement.
Most people tend to start off by exploring their
creativity on their own, and by attending workshops.
Feel free to explore your creativity as far as you can
on your own by following the activities in this
resource, and by going on workshops that interest
you. As you build confidence and knowledge you may
find it useful to find a creative companion (or you may
prefer the term coach or mentor). This could be
someone from your personal or professional life who
is also interested in developing their creativity and
that of others.
A creative companion is like a learning partner with
whom you can discuss issues and ideas, share and
support each others learning, and feedback on the
results of your creative activities. You may like to
consider this if it feels feasible for you.

Continued professional development

When considering how you want to incorporate
creativity into your practice, the learning framework
we recommend is:

2006 RCNI

Learn from your own experience. For example,

following the activities for working with yourself in
this resource, and becoming a participant in
workshops or on courses facilitated by creative
organisations, other RCN facilitators, creative
practitioners and artists. (See the Palette of
resources.)

Keep reflective notes of your experiences, learning

and challenges and questions you ask of
facilitators about their creative practice (for
example their intent, and how or why they
facilitate in particular ways), as well as learning
from your own experience. To help with learning
from your experience, there are short reflective

11

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

questions accompanying the activities in this

resource.

2006 RCNI

Consider whether you can arrange for a creative

companion who practises creatively to coach you
in your development.

Co-facilitate with someone who is more

experienced than you, so that you can learn from
your joint work as facilitators.

12

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

Origins of this resource

This resource has evolved from the work of a number
of practitioners developing the role of the creative
imagination and the use of creative media in
healthcare practice. The knowledge and experience
which inform the resource comes from four main
sources:

Creative work from the late 1990s up to 2006 by

independent practitioners and healthcare
professionals in primary, acute and higher
education settings and at RCN Practice
Development Schools, now known as International
Practice Development Collaborative Schools; from
work undertaken within the RCN Practice
Development team; through workshops and papers
given at national and international conferences,
and via publication in articles and books.

A series of RCN-funded collaborative inquiries

Seizing the fire (Arts Council England, 2005)
which brought together healthcare, social care,
education and independent practitioners over a
three-year period (20012003) to share and
develop creative methods.

Development of and participation in a series of

workshops in 2003 on the creative arts and
humanities in healthcare funded by the Nuffield
Trust, with published report (Coats et al., 2004).

Over the last few years, the work of the

International Practice Development Colloquium
has further extended our repertoire and expertise
in using creative arts in co-operative inquiries.

Feedback
We welcome any comments you may have on your
experience of using this resource, how you have used
your enhanced creativity in your work and any
outcomes for you, your service users/patients as well
as your ideas for improvements or changes. (See the
Palette of resources at the end of the resource for the
feedback sheet.)

2006 RCNI

13

Opening doors on creativity Introduction

Endpoint
Before starting Section A, make sure you have some
time and a comfortable space to support your
learning, and a notebook and pen to hand. You will
then be guided about other materials to use from
the list under Materials required (p.7) as you
continue through Section A.

2006 RCNI

14